"With such a massive decline in the demand for running water, there is less of it moving through the damaged pipes, so [there's] a greater chance of water stagnating," Sutton said.

HOUSING DECISION DUE SOON

A decision on whether red-zoned homes can be used as temporary accommodation for those struggling to find affordable housing is expected within the next few weeks.

The idea was put to the Christchurch City Council late last year as a way of alleviating the city's housing shortage and council staff have been working to identify land where they could be relocated to.

Council housing committee chairman Glenn Livingstone said yesterday he hoped to have all the information by the end of the month so a quick decision could be made on whether to proceed with the plan. "There's always going to be debate over how cheap or affordable it might be but it's always going to be cheaper than new builds," he said.

Last month, Christchurch was officially added to the list of the districts covered by the new Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act, which was introduced by the Government last year to try and ease pressure on housing supply in areas facing significant affordability issues.

The Land Use Recovery Plan gazetted by the Government last month addressed some of the housing supply and affordability issues in Christchurch by identifying greenfield priority areas for new residential development, but the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) believes extra measures are also needed.

"Relying only on the Land Use Recovery Plan and Resource Management Act will not achieve the specificity of a housing accord to address issues," MBIE housing affordability programme director Jo Doyle said in a report prepared for Cabinet late last year.

A housing accord has already been agreed to in Auckland, where the council and the Government pledged to build 6000 homes in 10 housing areas.

Livingstone did not know when an accord was likely to be reached in Christchurch but said Mayor Lianne Dalziel and Housing Minister Nick Smith had had "high level" discussions about it.